The Perpetual Rain Wheel

The

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Perpetual Rainwheel

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is a rain stick in the form of a wheel so that the performer can turn the handle starting off very slow, for a gentle rain sound, or turn the handle faster to get a more storm like effect. The main factor with the perpetual rain wheel is just that, you can keep the sound of the rain going for as long as you wish. The rain wheel is constructed of lightweight veneered plywood with the shell being about an inch thick with wood dowels of different thickness randomly placed inside the circular chamber. The reason for the different dowels is to develop an inconsistent sound like real rain.The dowels are then struck by the beads inside the chamber as the wheel is turned creating the rain sound. The wheel IS the resonating chamber for the rain sound. Most all of the time the rainwheel is situated on some sort of stand for ease of playing. I also like to paint or decorate each rainwheel using the aboriginal dotted techniquein an abstract form.